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Has an Irish ferry ever sunk?

The MV Princess Victoria sank on January 31, 1953, in the North Channel with 133 people losing their lives. This was the worst maritime disaster involving a ferry until the Herald of Free Enterprise in 1987.



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More than 130 people — men, women and children — lost their lives when the car ferry Princess Victoria sank off the Co Down coast on January 31, 1953. Many of those lost to the sea that day were residents of Belfast, along with the many crew members whose homes were in port towns of Larne and Stranraer in Scotland.

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Philippine ferry was overloaded when it flipped over, leaving 27 dead, official says. MANILA, Philippines -- The skipper of a Philippine ferry which flipped over in a lake in an accident that killed 27 passengers decided to sail despite knowing that his boat was filled beyond capacity, the coast guard chief said Friday ...

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MS Herald of Free Enterprise was a roll-on/roll-off (RORO) ferry which capsized moments after leaving the Belgian port of Zeebrugge on the night of 6 March 1987, killing 193 passengers and crew.

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On Oct. 20, 1976, the worst ferry disaster in the history of the United States occurred on the Mississippi River in St. Charles Parish. Seventy-seven lives were lost.

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The sinking of Le Joola is the second-worst non-military maritime disaster in number of lives lost. The first is considered to be MV Doña Paz in 1987 with an estimated number of over 4,000 dead. RMS Titanic, which sank in 1912 with 1,517 dead, would be third according to the World Almanac and the New York Times.

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The nation's oldest continuously operating ferry service crosses the Connecticut River between Rocky Hill and Glastonbury. The original ferry, which dates back to 1655, was a small raft pushed across the river using long poles.

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If a vehicle is broken down onboard, the responsibility ultimately is with the owner of the vehicle. The ferry crew is under no obligation to re-start vehicles that have broken down.

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The direct cause of the disaster was human error: the assistant bosun, responsible for closing the bow doors of this roll-on/roll-off ferry, had fallen asleep in his cabin and slept through the alarm telling crew that the ship was sailing.

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A public court of inquiry into the disaster placed the blame on three of the ferry's staff: assistant boatswain Mark Stanley, who failed to close the bow doors after falling asleep in his cabin during a short break; first officer Leslie Sabel, who failed to ensure the bow doors were closed; and captain David Lewry for ...

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Out of 476 passengers and crew, 306 died in the disaster, including around 250 students from Danwon High School in Ansan City.

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